The issue of danger was not a factor when the US bill of rights was written. The speech that they were referring to was directly involved in instigating a revolution. More that 4400 people were killed and over 6100 were wounded as a result of the words spoken or written by the so-called founding fathers.
The American Declaration of Independence was written with the clear understanding that it would cause people to fight and die - not virtually, but in the real world. That sounds pretty dangerous and violence-inducing to me.
Unfortunately, these three goals are almost mutually exclusive. Thomas Jefferson said something like 'Any populace that will trade a little freedom for a little security will lose both, and deserve neither.' I don't think the qoute is exact, but the content is right.
True and complete freedom carries a great deal of risk. It also requires considerable toil to preserve. The people who signed the US constitution understood this. Some died for it. Most people who strive for high freedom suffer for it wherever they live.
Everyone makes trades between these three values according to their own preferences. Governments and corporations are just factors that play into the way the balance works out.
Read Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands" for a really scary picture of extreme safety and quality of life.
Also, remember what the US part of the name stands for. We have 50 states that set most of their own laws and 45 of them are larger than many countries. Where you live in the US has a big influence on your S/F/QoL.
>>advertising is fundamental to the way that the internet has grown during the previous few years
Yeah, that's why the Net sucks so hard now. I probably haven't just surfed for the adventure of it in over a year. I have a couple dozen sites bookmarked because they contain something useful or entertaining in a bearable format. I look at about 6 of them on a daily basis. The rest is just too painful to endure.
Banner ads are mostly OK, but I couldn't count the sites that I've backed off of because the animation in the banner sucked all of the BW so that I never got the rest of the page. When advertisers learn to provide useful information about their product in a non-irritating way they will start to see a lot more return.
They observed a phenomenon, developed a hypothesis, and now will test the hypothesis. That's how it's supposed to work. They even seem pretty skeptical about their own theory. It might be totally bogus, but they're doing it right.
An awful lot of the stuff that gets recognized as good science is crap. Usually in the form of develop a hypothesis, run experiments to confirm the hypothesis, explain away conflicting results.
>...you'll have to admit that science does NOT provide absolute truth: it instead provides working models of reality with a very high degree of reliability
Bravo. Well said.
I just hate it when closed minded people spout off this law or that theory as if they were absolutes. It's so refreshing to hear the voice of a real scientific mind.
Sorry, can't help.
This idea didn't work in the movie or the book. If it's an autonomous hunter-seeker then why does it need an operator? If it's remote controlled then why have an indiscriminate motion seeker? And, finally, if it's primary key is motion then why isn't it sensitive enough to spot lips moving, eyes blinking, the slow wavering that anyone does when they're stanting still? Just use the hole in the wall to gas the room.
It really looked cool in the movie though.
Actually, I'm voting for Cheney. I wanted to vote for Cheney/Lieberman, but I don't think they're offering that combination. Either one of the veep canditates is twice as sharp as both of P guys.
I've said this before (thereby making this a redundant post I suppose).
The way do deal with this is to start behaving like other industries:
Auto makers don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
Home builders don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
Computer makers don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
As soon as a few software makers start replacing disclaimers with warranties then consumers will start demanding them.
>...Just think, the entire crude pumping process is eliminated, as well as the transportation, refining, and delivery processes. They are all sincerely reduced, if not virtually GONE because of this fuel...
Wow, I hope you don't really believe that nonsense.
Automobile fuels are only the most publicized product of the petroleum industry. Almost everything you can see from where you're presently sitting contains petroleum products: your clothes, the plastic parts of your computer, the floor covering, your ink pens...
The elimination of internal combustion vehicles would certainly impact the industry, but not to the huge extent that most people think it would. One reason gasoline and diesel are so expensive is that they are a relatively small fraction of each barrel of oil. All of it gets sold and used somewhere.
I don't recall saying that it was bad. I just said that it happens. It's only bad if a bunch of people start thinking "Hey, this car doesn't polute at all. I can use it all the time now." It's really easy for a lot of people to take good ideas like air cars and leap into thoughts of free energy.
It's important to remember that every form of energy we currently use involves burning something. Even wind, solar and hydro are driven by a huge ball of burning gas. (relocated emissions on a big scale)
>...You know the oil companies hate to hear about this stuff...
The energy (oil & gas) companies don't care where you burn their stuff. An oil or gas fired generating plant is just as good as a car to them. Plus, I understand that if you drop the requirement for gasoline they can get a lot more useful product from a barrel of oil = more things to sell.
Like most of the so-called Zero Emission vehicles this just relocates the emissions. The car just puts out air, but the horsepower to compress that air came from somewhere. Unless the compressor is run by wind, solar, or hydro power it probably results in a net increase in total emissions.
All of the crappy drivers we have now will take to the air. Then when they screw up it will be for good. Within a few weeks all of the jerks we have to drive with now will be history, and both the highways and airways will be safe. Go SoloTrek!
I don't think so. I know there are some pretty bright people working for M$, and monopoles are possible according to some theories of magnetic forces. Still, if M$ actually had a monopole then they wouldn't need to mess with software to make megabucks. I'm sure they could sell that significant bit of technology all over the world.
You see, the probable cause is where they've got us. They know that we're all doing naughty things all the time. But, at least we can take comfort in the fact that they are also doing naughty things so we can search them back. We just have to figure out who they are.
All of the proteins in my body are already folded! And I didn't use even 1 computer to do it. In fact, I did it all before I even knew the word protein.
On the other hand, every golfer knows that although trees are about 90% air the ball is about 99% likely to hit the solid part. Ballistic objects just have this dogged determination to hit something we would rather they wouldn't.
Wow. I'm really sorry to hear about Elvis's cancer. I've never had a chronically ill pet. The part about the Dachsie was pretty sad too. I'm glad you found a good companion for Elvis, though. Separation anxiety can really make a mess of a good animal.
Hope you enjoy your family member.
And, just so you can go away feeling better, Petrified Linux-Port Natalie Grit Cluster.
If that makes you cry then don't watch the Moonshot series (HBO?). When I see how far we went in such a short time it just makes me sick the way we stopped dead in our tracks.
Sure, the Apollo program had major flaws, but the rate of technological advance was astounding. At that rate we would have been running all over the galaxy by now.
After installing the OS, he pulls the write-protect jumper.
I used to think this was a pretty secure solution until I ran a VB install that wrote on my write-protected disk. Sure, that was WIN31, but it's the same hardware that any other OS could run on.
Just because there's a hardware piece involved doesn't mean that it's really a hardware implementation.
I heard all of this summed up pretty well a few years ago. The real problem is that there's not anything drawing most people toward space. Columbus 'discovering' the New World is a close analogy.
For thousands of years people had been bobbing about in fat wooden boats with canvas sails, and they were generally slow. Those boats handled all of the boating jobs pretty well, though. After 1500AD Europeans decided that there was some really valuable stuff that was at the limit of where they could go in their boats. They started working real hard to get across the ocean faster with more cargo capacity.
Within decades there were entirely new classes of ships to deal with the various ocean-crossing needs that had arisen. By 1807 we had steam ships. 52 years later the internal combustion engine appeared, and a few decades later useful aircraft were developed. All because there were a lot of business reasons for them to exist. An interesting point here is that until WWII most airplanes were built from the same materials as Columbus's ships.
Now we need the same thing for space. We know we can do the technology, but there is just not enough motivation - an earlier post referred to the "killer app" for space. When someone finally discovers that motiviator we'll all be astounded by the changes that will occur almost overnight.
Slashdot Mirror
"...therefore is dangerous..."
The issue of danger was not a factor when the US bill of rights was written. The speech that they were referring to was directly involved in instigating a revolution. More that 4400 people were killed and over 6100 were wounded as a result of the words spoken or written by the so-called founding fathers.
The American Declaration of Independence was written with the clear understanding that it would cause people to fight and die - not virtually, but in the real world. That sounds pretty dangerous and violence-inducing to me.
Unfortunately, these three goals are almost mutually exclusive. Thomas Jefferson said something like 'Any populace that will trade a little freedom for a little security will lose both, and deserve neither.' I don't think the qoute is exact, but the content is right.
True and complete freedom carries a great deal of risk. It also requires considerable toil to preserve. The people who signed the US constitution understood this. Some died for it. Most people who strive for high freedom suffer for it wherever they live.
Everyone makes trades between these three values according to their own preferences. Governments and corporations are just factors that play into the way the balance works out.
Read Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands" for a really scary picture of extreme safety and quality of life.
Also, remember what the US part of the name stands for. We have 50 states that set most of their own laws and 45 of them are larger than many countries. Where you live in the US has a big influence on your S/F/QoL.
Hey, it's an outdated sig. What can I say?
I still think it's important for people to remember these classic troll topics, though.
>>advertising is fundamental to the way that the internet has grown during the previous few years
Yeah, that's why the Net sucks so hard now. I probably haven't just surfed for the adventure of it in over a year. I have a couple dozen sites bookmarked because they contain something useful or entertaining in a bearable format. I look at about 6 of them on a daily basis. The rest is just too painful to endure.
Banner ads are mostly OK, but I couldn't count the sites that I've backed off of because the animation in the banner sucked all of the BW so that I never got the rest of the page. When advertisers learn to provide useful information about their product in a non-irritating way they will start to see a lot more return.
Actually, this is great science.
They observed a phenomenon, developed a hypothesis, and now will test the hypothesis. That's how it's supposed to work. They even seem pretty skeptical about their own theory. It might be totally bogus, but they're doing it right.
An awful lot of the stuff that gets recognized as good science is crap. Usually in the form of develop a hypothesis, run experiments to confirm the hypothesis, explain away conflicting results.
>...you'll have to admit that science does NOT provide absolute truth: it instead provides working models of reality with a very high degree of reliability
Bravo. Well said.
I just hate it when closed minded people spout off this law or that theory as if they were absolutes. It's so refreshing to hear the voice of a real scientific mind.
Sorry, can't help.
This idea didn't work in the movie or the book. If it's an autonomous hunter-seeker then why does it need an operator? If it's remote controlled then why have an indiscriminate motion seeker? And, finally, if it's primary key is motion then why isn't it sensitive enough to spot lips moving, eyes blinking, the slow wavering that anyone does when they're stanting still? Just use the hole in the wall to gas the room.
It really looked cool in the movie though.
Actually, I'm voting for Cheney. I wanted to vote for Cheney/Lieberman, but I don't think they're offering that combination. Either one of the veep canditates is twice as sharp as both of P guys.
I've said this before (thereby making this a redundant post I suppose).
The way do deal with this is to start behaving like other industries:
Auto makers don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
Home builders don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
Computer makers don't slap a disclaimer on their products - they slap a warranty on them.
As soon as a few software makers start replacing disclaimers with warranties then consumers will start demanding them.
>...Just think, the entire crude pumping process is eliminated, as well as the transportation, refining, and delivery processes. They are all sincerely reduced, if not virtually GONE because of this fuel...
Wow, I hope you don't really believe that nonsense.
Automobile fuels are only the most publicized product of the petroleum industry. Almost everything you can see from where you're presently sitting contains petroleum products: your clothes, the plastic parts of your computer, the floor covering, your ink pens...
The elimination of internal combustion vehicles would certainly impact the industry, but not to the huge extent that most people think it would. One reason gasoline and diesel are so expensive is that they are a relatively small fraction of each barrel of oil. All of it gets sold and used somewhere.
>...your assumption that this is a Bad Thing...
I don't recall saying that it was bad. I just said that it happens. It's only bad if a bunch of people start thinking "Hey, this car doesn't polute at all. I can use it all the time now." It's really easy for a lot of people to take good ideas like air cars and leap into thoughts of free energy.
It's important to remember that every form of energy we currently use involves burning something. Even wind, solar and hydro are driven by a huge ball of burning gas. (relocated emissions on a big scale)
>...You know the oil companies hate to hear about this stuff...
The energy (oil & gas) companies don't care where you burn their stuff. An oil or gas fired generating plant is just as good as a car to them. Plus, I understand that if you drop the requirement for gasoline they can get a lot more useful product from a barrel of oil = more things to sell.
Like most of the so-called Zero Emission vehicles this just relocates the emissions. The car just puts out air, but the horsepower to compress that air came from somewhere. Unless the compressor is run by wind, solar, or hydro power it probably results in a net increase in total emissions.
You're right! This IS a great idea.
All of the crappy drivers we have now will take to the air. Then when they screw up it will be for good. Within a few weeks all of the jerks we have to drive with now will be history, and both the highways and airways will be safe. Go SoloTrek!
>MS has a monopole
I don't think so. I know there are some pretty bright people working for M$, and monopoles are possible according to some theories of magnetic forces. Still, if M$ actually had a monopole then they wouldn't need to mess with software to make megabucks. I'm sure they could sell that significant bit of technology all over the world.
You see, the probable cause is where they've got us. They know that we're all doing naughty things all the time. But, at least we can take comfort in the fact that they are also doing naughty things so we can search them back. We just have to figure out who they are.
>...don't get to strip bars much. ...We don't have this problem in New York, any place a man can be topless, a woman has a right to be topless, too.
Are you trying to tell me that men in New York take off their tops in strip bars? I always knew that place was flaky.
All of the proteins in my body are already folded! And I didn't use even 1 computer to do it. In fact, I did it all before I even knew the word protein.
So, ha!
>...has tried to get into it over the pasty year...
Isn't the word 'pasty' widely used in your country? Those of us on this side of the pond could use some help with it in this context.
That sounds real good statistically.
On the other hand, every golfer knows that although trees are about 90% air the ball is about 99% likely to hit the solid part. Ballistic objects just have this dogged determination to hit something we would rather they wouldn't.
the end of Mt. Dew civilization as we know it!
What will programmers drink now? Water?
Wow. I'm really sorry to hear about Elvis's cancer. I've never had a chronically ill pet. The part about the Dachsie was pretty sad too. I'm glad you found a good companion for Elvis, though. Separation anxiety can really make a mess of a good animal.
Hope you enjoy your family member.
And, just so you can go away feeling better, Petrified Linux-Port Natalie Grit Cluster.
If that makes you cry then don't watch the Moonshot series (HBO?). When I see how far we went in such a short time it just makes me sick the way we stopped dead in our tracks.
Sure, the Apollo program had major flaws, but the rate of technological advance was astounding. At that rate we would have been running all over the galaxy by now.
After installing the OS, he pulls the write-protect jumper.
I used to think this was a pretty secure solution until I ran a VB install that wrote on my write-protected disk. Sure, that was WIN31, but it's the same hardware that any other OS could run on.
Just because there's a hardware piece involved doesn't mean that it's really a hardware implementation.
I heard all of this summed up pretty well a few years ago. The real problem is that there's not anything drawing most people toward space. Columbus 'discovering' the New World is a close analogy.
For thousands of years people had been bobbing about in fat wooden boats with canvas sails, and they were generally slow. Those boats handled all of the boating jobs pretty well, though. After 1500AD Europeans decided that there was some really valuable stuff that was at the limit of where they could go in their boats. They started working real hard to get across the ocean faster with more cargo capacity.
Within decades there were entirely new classes of ships to deal with the various ocean-crossing needs that had arisen. By 1807 we had steam ships. 52 years later the internal combustion engine appeared, and a few decades later useful aircraft were developed. All because there were a lot of business reasons for them to exist. An interesting point here is that until WWII most airplanes were built from the same materials as Columbus's ships.
Now we need the same thing for space. We know we can do the technology, but there is just not enough motivation - an earlier post referred to the "killer app" for space. When someone finally discovers that motiviator we'll all be astounded by the changes that will occur almost overnight.